Saudi Arabia Presents the Saudi Model for Strengthening Cybersecurity Resilience at the United Nations’ International Specialized Agency for Communication and Information Technology

The Kingdom presented the Saudi Model for Strengthening Cybersecurity Resilience during the ITU Council Working Group (CWG) meeting on international internet-related public policy. The meeting was held with attendance from His Excellency ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao, Deputy Secretary-General Mr. Malcom Johnson and a number of Member States representatives.
During the meeting, The Kingdom shared with Member States the Saudi model for strengthening cybersecurity resilience. The Kingdom followed this model during its G20 Presidency year and the Leaders’ Virtual Summit, at which the Kingdom, represented by the National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA), was keen to develop the model as a comprehensive and trusted reference for the countries that will chair future G20 Summits and all major conference organizers.
Deputy Governor for policies and regulations sector at NCA Mr. Alrebdi bin Fahad Alrebdi clarified that the model is structured on two tiers. Tier 1 aims to strengthen the resilience of cybersecurity during the G20 Presidency year. Tier 2 aims to strengthen the resilience of the Leaders' Virtual Summit’s cybersecurity. Both tiers consist of four streams which are program governance, cybersecurity assessments, cybersecurity operations and cybersecurity awareness and cyber drills. He added that this model contributed to holding the Summit safely and reliably, which was of the utmost importance to ensure a successful Presidency year. Both the magnitude of the event and most meetings being held virtually due to Coronavirus were taken into consideration. Participants in the meeting praised the Saudi model for strengthening cybersecurity resilience, and its contribution to holding this important event safely and reliably.
It is worth noting that The International Telecommunication Union in Geneva is the United Nations’ international specialized agency for information and communication technologies. It is considered to be an international platform for governments to discuss international internet-related public policy issues and draft resolutions and recommendations for said issues.